7.16.98 The Jazzhaus (Lawrence, KS)
The Black Water, NASA's Little Secret, & Grovel
review by Danielle (edited by Aaron Weber)

The night was off to an auspicious start when we had trouble getting in the door (our arrangements with the mgmt didn't seem to have been communicated with the doorman), but once inside the mood lightened as everyone settled down for this much anticipated rock show. The evening started out with longtime Lawrence residents The Black Water, who put on one of their most energetic shows in recent memory. As always, frontman Shaun's haunting vocals provided the perfect accompaniment to the moody and ethereal sound that is their trademark. Brent, already a veritable master of the fretless bass, looked stunning in a slinky blue dress & matching headband. His energy (and advanced state of inebriation) created quite the presence, showing the audience just how exactly one gets down with your bad self. Highlights of their set included "puncture" (which was certainly a couples only on the dance floor number), "numb", "wonderful", and their final piece, "hollow". Needless to say, this is a band that certainly deserves a listening to. While they shied away from playing  material off of their latest (and KLAMMIE nominated) release Train, Man, Drunk , the collection of new songs we heard definitely proves that this is a band that continues to mature with age.

If The Black Water's set was ethereal, NASA's Little Secret was full on atmospheric. Obvious fans of the BW, NLS's newer material finds them moving away from the earlier rock feel and landing solidly in the experimental. This reviewer would liken their set to a very "Disintegration" kind of experience with sparse vocals and heavy moods filling the air. The attention grabber award for this band has to go their keyboardist (insert name here) who's stage presence went from electric to the borderline religious ecstatic. They cut short due to some string problems with the bass, but they certainly know how to give the audience a good trippy feeling. While I'd personally like to see a return to their earlier rock flavored excursions into sonic bliss, their current direction proves that music needs no alchemist's formula. Audio acid without the strychnine, NLS   delivered a perfect compliment to both the Black Water & the evenings final act, Grovel.

Hometown boys Grovel (like their musical cohorts for the evening) are a band that continues to defy easy categorization. With an amazingly wide range of influences, Grovel strikes the perfect balance between noise & aural nirvana. Despite some technical difficulties in their second (and this reviewer's favorite) song "Valentine", these boys rubbed some dirt on it and rocked it off for the benefit of Mr. Kite & rest of us yokels. If there was ever a band that deserved to be brought to the attention of Thurston Moore, Grovel is it. Lead singer Brad's emotionally charged vocals combined with the triple axe guitar onslaught completely engulfed the room and saturated our ears with heavy noise and perfect harmonics. Grovel's guitar giant (literally!) Keanon spent the set pushing both body and guitar past any respectable limits, which only went to highlight Brad's tortured attack on the audience's conception of a rock show. This bands music finds it's way to your inner child and slaps it around like you've got the milkman's eyes. Keanon saw fit to give me a fairly imaginary setlist (that metal baby), so I'm unable to transcribe specifics, but these boys showed the crowd that they know the rock well. And if you ask 'em nicely, they'll cook it up for you. After a solid delivery of the very Hum-flavored "Stars in Her Eyes", Grovel closed out the night with a much extended (and very old-school back and forth improv) version of their own "Broken Amber Fire", telling the crowd to pack up and move to Vegas, 'cause it's their house now.

So while the crowd was limited to mostly friends and associates, everyone went home with a little more than they came with. This is a triple bill I'd like to see repeated here in KC sometime, but in the interim check your local listings or our own calendar for the next appearance of these fine bands. The traditional show goer should find it in their hearts to wander off the much beaten track and take a walk through the undiscovered country of our rich local scene. Anyone of these bands could be the one to blow out the common conception of this so very much Pop town and prove that just because you don't hear it on the corporate bordello of radio, it doesn't mean that it's not worth listening to.